Anchored: Teaching from St Martin’s Church

  Primary: Genesis 3:1–9 Supporting: Luke 15:1–7 Imagine a huge, beautiful garden. Not a small garden like the one at home — a garden as big as the world. Bright sunlight. Rivers that sparkle. Trees full of fruit. Animals that aren’t scary. No storms. No sadness. No pain. Nothing broken at all. And right in the middle of that garden are two people. They have never felt afraid. Never felt embarrassed. Never felt the need to hide. They are fully known and fully loved. Then one day, something happens.    Not a monster.    Not a storm.    Just a conversation.   A simple question.   A quiet question.   A question so small you could miss how dangerous it is.   And that question changes everything. I love this passage in Genesis, but there’s something we often miss. Something subtle. Something important. And it’s all to do with the way the Hebrew has been translated into English. To see it clearly, we have to go right...

  I love hearing people’s stories, especially the ones about the things that have happened in their lives and how The Lord has been at work. Testimonies often follow a simple pattern: someone describes the situation they were in; they tell how they cried out to the Lord because they could not fix it themselves, and then they share what the Lord did in response. Psalm 30 is exactly that. It is a testimony. A glorious testimony of what the Lord did when David was ill, how he was healed, and restored. Yet there is more to this psalm than a simple testimony. The opening verses (1–3) set the tone: “I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths.” David begins with praise. To exalt is to declare the glory and wonder of Yahweh, to let everyone know what He has done. David wants everyone to hear it: The Lord has rescued him from the illness and refused to let his enemies’ triumph over him. How he had been seriously ill—so ill he thought he might die, yet he cried out...

  Luke 9:18–27 • Philippians 2:5–11 We’re continuing our summer series, Preparing the Way . Each passage gets two weeks—time to sit with it, let it breathe, and let it shape us. Last week’s theme was, “Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?” We said that although many people talk about Jesus, the versions of Jesus out there don’t always match the Jesus of Scripture. And that’s not so different from the world Jesus stepped into—everyone had an opinion, everyone tried to fit him into their worldview. In the middle of all that noise, Jesus asks Peter, “Who do you say I am?” (Luke 9:20). Peter answers, “You are the Messiah.” The promised one. Emmanuel. God with us. We explored the great paradox: Jesus is the transcendent one—beyond time, imagination, and the universe—and yet he steps into creation so we can know him. The one who made all things comes with a name, a face, a story. And through the cross, he becomes the bridge across the vast divide of sin and shame between the Cre...

  Psalm 29 — ‘The Song of the Thunderstorm’ As part of the Wednesday Congregation, we say a psalm each week together, why not join us in reading this psalm at home and think a little deeper about. Have you ever watched a huge thunderstorm rolling in—thunder shaking buildings, lightning splitting the sky—and found yourself standing in awe at the sheer power displayed in creation? Welcome to Psalm 29. Often called The Song of the Thunderstorm , it builds like a storm gathering strength, repeating phrases that draw us deeper into wonder and praise. As we journey through it, we are invited to lift our eyes toward the One whose voice echoes through creation. In many ways it sits alongside Psalm 8: “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Introduction (vv. 1–2) The psalm opens with a great cry: “Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.” David is not addressing Yahweh, nor calling God’s people to worship. He is so overw...

  Psalm 27-  ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?’   As part of the Wednesday Congregation, we say a psalm each week together, why not read this psalm at home and think a little deeper about. Have you ever found yourself lost in a dark place, when suddenly a light is turned on, and now you can find your way out safely? Ps 27 is a bit like that, but when we look at it closely it can almost feel like two separate psalms hinge together in the middle.   The first part is full of confidence in Yahweh [the LORD] — v1, “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?”   The second part is a cry to Yahweh in a moment of rejection and false accusation — v7, “Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.” What holds these two parts together is the cry of David’s heart in v4: “One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life.” His desire is ...

    Luke 9:18–27 Supporting passages: - Isaiah 9:6–7, Malachi 4:5–6   Jesus suddenly seems to be everywhere. As belief in God resurges, confusion about who Jesus truly is grows. People claim Him for cultural identity, other religions, political power, social justice, or personal comfort—but often not the Jesus of Scripture. At the same time, Bibles are flying off shelves and many, especially younger adults, are encountering Jesus afresh. This confusion isn’t new; even in His own day crowds struggled to understand who He was and how He fit their expectations. Across history the same cry keeps rising: “Will the real Jesus please stand up!” In Luke 9 we meet that question directly. Jesus is in the middle of His ministry, travelling through the towns around Lake Galilee. He teaches with unprecedented authority, heals with divine power, calms storms like the Creator in Genesis, and feeds crowds like the God of Exodus. Naturally, everyone is talking about Him. Every...

  Psalm 28- ‘To you, Lord, I call; you are my Rock,’ What do we do when the pressure mounts? When are accusations made?  This psalm is one for those times.   Written by David, who is possibly under pressure and being falsely accused himself, it is written in two parts:   The first part, v1–5, David, calls out to Yahweh [The LORD]: “To you, Yahweh, I call; you are my rock” (v1), he cries out to God to hear him and he pours out his heart to Him. He is able to do so because he knows who he is calling upon — the God who has a name -Yahweh. We often translate this as ‘The LORD’- the personal name, of the one who is present, who can be known and who is intimately involved with and committed to His creation. That is why David cries out to Him and calls him, “my Rock”: the one he can lean on and depend upon in the storm. It is here in the storm that David pours out everything that is happening, bringing all his fear and his worries to Yahweh and laying it down befo...